DRAKKAR was born in late 1995. They had an aim: to become a great power-epic metal band. So they started working real hard, and in a short time, they began to gain a good reputation in Milan, due to the man gigs they were doing all around. The band also won a contest for newcomer, unsigned bands, and placed second in another one. The first demotape (out in the middle of 1996) was entitled "Sailing Alive", and it was a little live-recorded stuff done for a radio show, that later on the band decided to sell due to the many requests from the fans coming to the shows. The second demo came out in the beginning of 1997; it was entitled "We Sail At Dawn". This was a more "serious" demo, recorded on a 16 tracks-tape, and did even better the first.
It was this demo to bring the band to the attention of Dragonheart Records, a young but promising label in Italy. They offered Drakkar a good deal, giving what they wanted the most: total artistic freedom. So the band decided to sign, and started (in January '98) the recordings of "Quest For Glory" with this line-up: Dario Beretta (guitars and backing vocals), Christian Fiorani (drums), Alex Forgione (bass) and Luca Cappellari (vocals). Being still without a keyboard player, the band asked to their good friend Emanuele Rastelli from Crown Of Autumn to join 'em just to record the album, and so he did.
In the June of that year, shortly after the publishing of the album, they took part as opening band to the "Monsters Of Rock" festival in Turin (Italy), supporting bands like Saxon, Deep Purple, Primal Fear, Hammerfall, Dream Theater, etc., with a very good response from the crowd. In September, a few line-up changes occurred; Alex Ferraris took place of Forgione as bass-player, and Eleonora Ceretti was hired as keyboard player, officially becoming part of the band. The sellings of “Quest For Glory” were very good, and the band was claimed by many journalists to be a big promise for the future. While they were working on the songs for the second album, they continued to play live in Italy, making lots of good shows. Among the others, stood the great gig as support band for Scorpions on their Italian date of may 1999, where the band received a great vibe from the crowd and convinced also the Scorpions’ drummer, who personally congratulated with them.
In September 1999, they finally entered the studio to record the long-awaited follower to “Quest For Glory”. The new album, called “Gemini”, was a great step forward, being much more mature of the debut and much better produced and arranged, and it was released in the middle of March 2000.
On the album, there was also a special guest appearance by (now former) Helloween’s guitarist Roland Grapow, who placed two great solos on the song “The Voice Of The Wind”.
Despite the fact that “Gemini” was selling good and having very good reviews, June 2000 saw the ending of the band’s partnership with Luca Cappellari and Alex Ferraris, due to personal problems. But this was not an end, just a new beginning. As they’ve always done before, the band immediately started to search for new members, worth to carry on the legacy of the former ones. Soon the new bass player was found: Daniele Persoglio, a very young and talented musician coming from a power-progressive band called Holy Gates.
His highly technical way of playing, and his will to experiment with the sound of his instrument, convinced Dario and Christian that he was the perfect choice for Drakkar’s future. Just a few days after, also the new singer was found. His name is Davide Dell’Orto (also known as Dave Shot), from Exile, another good italian progressive-metal band. He has a great range and a very powerful voice, more aggressive and deep compared to his predecessor. Since they first hear him on their songs, Drakkar knew that he woud have been the best choice to keep the Dragonship sailing. Unfortunately, the line-up problems weren’t settled yet, ‘cause Eleonora, too, was forced by heavy personal problems to quit the band. But soon Corrado Solarino was in to take her place on the keys, with his unique, original and personal style, taking inspiration noth only from the modern epic-symphonic sound that was typical to the band, but also from all kind of rock and progressive keyboard wizards like Keith Emerson, Jon Lord, and many others. His choice of using a lot of Hammond organ, both for riffs and solos, was enthusiastically approved from the rest of the band and contributed to create a new, original sound for Drakkar. A sound which is fully displayed in the new album “Razorblade God”, released in April 2002. An album that proves, beyond every reasonable doubt, that with the new line-up DRAKKAR is stronger than ever. Aggressive riffs, catchy melodies, original keyboards arrangements and the first-class singin’ of Dave all flow together in an outstanding 100 % METAL album. Included in the album, as a CD-Rom Mpeg file, you can also find the first Drakkar Videoclip, for the song “To The Future”. And that’s a wonderful one, top-class between the heavy metal clips of the last years: another step forward for Drakkar. A band with a great respect for the heavy metal tradition, but also with the guts to try creating a very personal sound, without giving a damn about trends and fashions.
Source: http://www.drakkar.it/frames.htm
